Citizen Science at GamesWithWords.org: The VerbCorner Project

What do verbs mean? We'd like to know. For that reason, we just launched VerbCorner, a massive, crowd-sourced investigation into the meanings of verbs. 

Why do we need this project? Why not just look up what verbs mean in a dictionary? While dictionaries are enormously useful (I think I own something like 15), they are far from perfect. For one thing, it's usually very easy to find counter-examples even for what seem like straight-forward definitions. Take the following:

Bachelor: An unmarried man.

So is the Pope a bachelor? Is Neil Patrick Harris? How about a married man from a country in which men are allowed multiple wives?

At VerbCorner, rather than trying to work out the whole definition at once, we have broken meaning into many different components. At the site, you will find several different tasks. In each task, you will try to determine whether a particular verb has a particular component of meaning. 

If you are interested in what words mean and would like to help with this project, sign up for an account at http://gameswithwords.org/VerbCorner/. Participation can be anonymous, but we are happy to recognize significant contributions from anyone who wishes it.

I will be writing a lot more about this project, it's goals, the science behind it, and the impact we expect it to have over the coming weeks. In the meantime, please check it out.